To Be a Hero
by LadyCruelWriter
Summary: It's just a normal day for Clark Kent, until new reporter Tami Richardson appears and tells him about what it means to be a hero in her eyes. NO FLUFF. Rated T for Mild Cussing


I sighed; yet another meeting about my alter ego, Superman. This was getting tedious, I mean, there are only so many times you can remind us that you want Superman's story to be on the Daily Planet's front page, not some other paper's. I heard footsteps approaching the office, and looked up in time to see Ethel lead in a tall woman, dressed in a gray pantsuit; this caused Perry to stop mid-spiel in order to introduce the newcomer, "Ladies, gents, this is Tami Richardson. She's almost as fast as Kent and has the best vocabulary I have ever seen on a reporter."

She glanced around, "Hi." She seems nice enough.

"So, Richardson, do you have a specific column or story you want?" Perry asked.

"I'll bet she's another one of those Superman groupies." Steve muttered.

Tami turned to face him, "Nope. I was actually thinking about doing some stories highlighting the heroism of civilians and maybe our police force."

You didn't even need super hearing to hear the mouths of almost every person in the room plop open, " May I ask why?" Perry asked the question that was on all our minds.

"Well, there are a few reasons; one of them being that I think that there are enough reporters chasing the poor man down. "She put her hands on her hips, "I don't want to be just another chick running after him for my fifteen minutes of fame."

* * *

Since I had the honor of showing her around town, I got to know Tami pretty well. Tami was weird, but in a nice way; like little old lady who believes in aliens weird. But she was also smart, and had a serious no-nonsense attitude; it was like she could see through bullshit from a mile away. She's actually really funny, constantly making sarcastic comments just to make people loosen up. She had been in the military and had spent the last year brushing up on her English while going through physical rehab after a bomb had 'kindly rid me of one of my legs'. We were walking back to my car when I decided to broach the subject of superman, "So Tami, I've been meaning to ask."

"Yeah?" She took a sip of her coffee.

"What's the other reason that you don't want to 'chase' superman?"

She sighed, "I guess I kinda opened myself up for that one didn't I? Well, I just don't really understand why everyone's made him up to be such a great hero. I mean, it doesn't take any bravery or courage to stand in the line of fire if you're bulletproof. He's been blessed with amazing abilities, he has a moral obligation to use them to benefit mankind; of course he's going to put himself out there. When I was on tour, I didn't have the luxury of being bulletproof from head to toe; but I still went out there, and I still put myself in the line of fire. It's just hard for me to see him as an incredibly 'brave' hero."

"Wow, that's deep."

"Very funny." She laughed.

"Hand over your purse and wallet!" A rough voice interrupted us mid laugh. The speaker was about six feet tall, looked like he hadn't bathed in a month, and was wielding a very sharp knife. I glanced over at Tami; she had gone still and was staring at our assailant intently.

"I said hand 'em over!" Great, now what should I do?

"Ok." Tami's voice was calm, "I'm taking off my purse, see? Kent, hand him your wallet." Tami's purse slid down her left arm, into her open hand. "Here's the purse, ok? I'm handing it to you now." The minute the thug's finger gripped the handle of the purse, she dropped her coffee and brought up her right hand again, "Drop my purse and the knife." She ordered. It was so unexpected that he readily complied. I almost felt sorry for the man; your prey doesn't often carry a concealed weapon. "Now put your hands in the air; Kent put away your wallet for Pete's sake and grab his weapon and my purse, it's new."

"What are you going to do with him?" I gestured to the thug while doing as she had asked.

"I'm going to make a citizen's arrest. Let's move." She prodded the thug with her gun, "Kent, you can drive us to the nearest precinct right?"

"Yeah."

"Great, I'll sit in the back with Happy the dwarf here."

* * *

Tami brought the thug in, and walked out 20 minutes later with a file and a new cup of coffee.

"What's that for?" I asked.

"That's Richard Smalls' criminal record, they kindly lent it to me so that I could do a story on him."

"Why?"

"Cause. I'm not telling you any more than that, if you want to find out more you'll have to read all about it in tomorrow's issue of the planet." She laughed, "Come on Kent, let's get back to the Planet."

* * *

That night, as my alter-ego Superman made his rounds around Metropolis, I vowed to do my best to keep the city safe no matter what the cost; and maybe, just maybe, live up to Tami's version of a hero.

* * *

**Hope you enjoyed!**

**-LCW**


End file.
